FOUR ESSENTIAL VERBS
FOR APUSH ESSAYS
By Sarah Loeb 7/29/2013
APUSH essay questions use key verbs that tell the student what he or she must DO in the
essay. Students must learn the meaning of these terms well. They must learn to use them by
practicing writing answers in response to questions and short writing prompts containing these
terms. The most frequently used direction verbs are compare, evaluate, assess the validity of,
and analyze.
COMPARE: Explain the ways two or more things are alike AND the ways they differ!
Prove the argument with multiple specific factual examples and explain why.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: same as compare.
CONTRAST: Explain the ways the items differ and why.
EVALUATE, RATE, ASSESS: Explain what is best and worst (and why); grade it!
EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS: Tell in detail the ways (and why) something was
successful and not so successful, what worked well and what worked poorly and why.
 Example: “Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of Confederation were effective in
solving the problems that confronted the new nation.”
ASSESS THE VALIDITY OF: explain BOTH the ways (and why) something is true AND
the ways in which it is false or incorrect.
 Example: “Assess the validity of this statement: ‘Geography was the primary factor in
shaping the development of the English colonies in North America in the 1600.’ ”
 “Assess the validity of this statement: ‘Throughout the Colonial Period, economic
concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious
concerns.’ ”
ANALYZE: means to break something down into its parts. A more helpful definition is to
explain how the parts of something are related to each other (and why). “Analyze” can be used
in a variety of ways including to:
Explain the causes (the reasons why something happened) and why
Explain the effects (the results of something, how and why things changed) and why
Compare things
Contrast things
Evaluate thing or part is most important, most effective, etc., explaining why
Examples:
 “Analyze the difference between the Spanish settlements in the Southwest and the
English colonies in New England in the 17th century” tells students to contrast the
Spanish settlement with the English colonies, explaining how they were different.
 “Analyze the impact of the Atlantic trade routes established in the mid 1650s on the
economic development in the British North American colonies in the period 1650 –
1750” asks students to explain the effects of the new trade routes on the economy.

“Analyze the extent to which religious freedom existed in British North American
colonies prior to 1700” directs students to evaluate religious freedom in several British
colonies; students might also compare several colonies in their answer.